New York City Outlaws Discrimination Against Black Hairstyles

In a win for African Americans, New York City has outlawed racial discrimination based on hairstyles, introducing a set of bills to protect the rights of Black people who choose to wear locs, braids, or afros as they please.

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New Yorkers have the right to "preserve natural hair or hairstyles closely associated with their racial, ethnic or cultural identity," New York City Human Rights Commissioner Chair Carmelyn P Malalis said in a statement Monday.

"Natural hair, treated or untreated hairstyles such as locs, cornrows, twists, braids, Bantu knots, fades, Afros, and/or the right to keep hair in an uncut or untrimmed state," will be respected by the New York City authorities, the report said.

Any Black citizen who experiences discrimination, harassment, or unemployment for their hairstyle can lodge a complaint with the City Commission and a fine of up to US$250,000 may be imposed.

African Americans have long been targeted by white supremist ideaologies in society which openly refuses to tolerate Black traditional hair styles and outright bans them from public spaces, schools, and workplaces.

"When I started work, I chemically straightened my hair because I understood that the expectation would be that I would present myself with straight hair. It would be against expectations to have natural hair," said Brittny Saunders, who worked as part of the team behind the groundbreaking legislature.

Demoya Gordon, who also assisted with the bill’s guidelines, said, "It was almost 6 years into my career that I stopped pinning my locs up and started wearing them down most of the time."

In a press release, Malalis said, “Policies that limit the ability to wear natural hair or hairstyles associated with black people aren’t about ‘neatness’ or ‘professionalism;’ they are about limiting the way black people move through workplaces, public spaces and other settings.

“This new legal enforcement guidance will help school administrators, employers, and providers of public accommodations to understand that black New Yorkers have the right to wear their hair however they choose without fear of stigma or retaliation,” she said.